


Rocket Fuel

by Whatclaptrap



Series: Rocket Flight [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Am I projecting onto my OC or on Arlo? Both. Both is good., F/M, I decided to write my own comfort fic, Making Things Up As I Go Along, Multi, Not using any one particular pokemon canon, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Trans Arlo but he's stealth so that's a spoiler oh well, because I felt like it, dorks who are bad at communicating, please be kind to me, ridiculous situations, with my own characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:41:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28562217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatclaptrap/pseuds/Whatclaptrap
Summary: Lee is on Team Valor.  Arlo is on Team Rocket.  Arlo hates Candela, and Valor, and everyone in Valor, and he's a jerk (and Lee always loses to him, ALWAYS, it is not fair). But he's still kinda hot. Oh, and he's surprisingly easy to fluster, look at that.I looked at all the fanfic rules I stuck to when I was a teenager and went 'NAH' and threw them in the trash.  So here's my self indulgent OCxCanon Character fic I wrote because I needed to.  I really hope you enjoy it, because I did!
Relationships: Arlo/Female Pokemon GO Trainer(s)
Series: Rocket Flight [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2092722
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. The One Where He Blushes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whatclaptrap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatclaptrap/gifts).



> I don't even know what to say about this. I doubt anybody who's read my other fics will come here, but this is what I wrote instead of.... everything else I should've. I just got it stuck in my head, and I couldn't stop, and now, 200 pages later and counting..... so this is a long haul one. Buckle up, kids. I hope anyone giving this a chance enjoys it half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Love you all!

The first time she’s absolutely not supposed to see him like she does. 

He’s nowhere near his hideout, or the most recent hideout she’s been aware of, anyways. She was already a little bit tipsy after being beaten by a rocket goon, and it’s a small miracle she doesn’t make an ass of herself in the bar and draw his attention. 

It’s interesting. She’s never seen him out of his Rocket gear. He still has his stupid pretty hair pulled back, and he’s still got the big stupid glasses on his face. He’s still  _ Arlo,  _ but he looks more… tired, maybe? Like he’s really just looking forward to getting a couple of bevs and then heading home to pass out and pretend like his problems aren’t a thing. 

That’s one thing she can relate to. 

Her first thought: leave him alone. Get the drinks and get out. 

Her thoughts after drink 2 (counting since she’d noticed him, not since she started drinking): it would be pretty funny if she got his attention somehow. Could you imagine the look across the bar? That is, if he recognizes her at all. It’s not like she’s the only Valor trainer who’s fought him. 

Her thoughts after drink 3: Why the hell were all the Team Rocket leaders so good looking? It wasn’t fair. Cliff had the rough and tough macho man thing going on, Sierra the dominatrix vibes. Arlo was just…  _ hot _ . Kind of in a stuck up nerdy way, sure, but still.  _ Hot _ . She can’t get away from it, even sitting halfway across the room. 

Of course, drink 3 is when she realizes she needs to hit the bathroom. So, without further ado, she gets up - and if she wobbles a little, she doesn’t acknowledge it - and she goes. 

The bathroom is not particularly great, but what dive bar bathroom is? She does her thing, finishes up quick. She smirks at herself in the mirror while she’s washing her hands. Sitting in a dive bar thinking about how a team rocket leader was hot - what the hell was she doing? He kicked her ass six ways from Sunday so many times. And hey, she knows she’s a little bit of a masochist, but that doesn’t mean she has to be dumb about it. 

Unfortunately, when she comes out of the bathroom, her short lived anonymity is murdered. 

Arlo is there. 

His eyes go wide. So do hers, she’s pretty sure. Stupid ass time to get caught - slipping out of the bathroom at a dive bar in the local town, running into somebody who had no compunctions with kicking your ass as  _ they _ were on the way to the restroom - but what can you do? 

He moves faster than she does, and she’s definitely regretting her drunkenness as he grabs her by the arms and shoves her against the hallway wall. “Haven’t you had enough, trainer?” He hisses. “You want to get beaten so badly you  _ follow me _ looking for another loss?”

It’s absolutely the wrong time for the snarky bastard in her to come out, but she laughs an unladylike laugh that ends in a snort. Any other time she’d probably be embarrassed by that. “Oh, come on. I have a  _ name _ . And you think I’m stalking you?” 

His eyes narrow, suspicion and disbelief written clearly in the twist of his brows. “What else should I think? You and team valor have been a thorn in my side for months now!” 

“Yeah, and I’ve had my ass resoundingly beat every time.” She tries to wriggle out of his grasp. It doesn’t really work. “I mean, I’m a little bit of a masochist, sure, but it’s starting to get to the point that I should ask for dinner and drinks first. I don’t let just  _ anybody _ spank me like you do.” 

It’s one of those times that some part of her knows she’s going to regret what she’s saying in the morning. She’s just past giving a shit tonight. But then something happens that she doesn’t expect, something she couldn’t have foreseen on the best of days. Something that makes her stare. 

Arlo  _ blushes _ . 

He goes bright red, eyes open as wide as they’d been when he’d first seen her step into the hallway. He swallows hard before he asks, “ _ What?” _

It’s  _ adorable _ , actually. Fuck. She can’t resist. “You can’t tell me a little spanking offends your delicate sensibilities.” She arches a brow, dragging her eyes down to his hands, still tight on her arms. “And you seem pretty happy to get your hands on me…a girl could get ideas.”

“I-- _ what?!  _ No _ \--”  _ He looks like steam is going to come bursting out of his ears at any second, and he steps back sharply, pulling his hands away and crossing his arms, only to immediately unfold his arms to shove his glasses up on his nose. It’s a weak attempt to regain his typical haughty attitude. “ _ Please _ . The only reason I’m letting you talk to me like this is because you are drunk.” 

She giggles. “Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Rocket leader.” 

He glares at her, and it’s almost back to full strength, lessened only by the brilliant red still bright on his cheeks. “ _ Quiet.  _ Crawl back to whatever hole you’re staying in and  _ sleep it off. _ ” 

“Awful concerned,” she says, her voice going sing-song, and she leans forward a little, stepping into his space. Unconsciously or not, he steps back, the blush flaring once more. It only gets worse when he realizes what he’s done, and he glares at her again. “You want me in good shape for the next time you  _ beat _ me?” 

“Get out before I throw you out,” he growls back. But he crosses his arms again, his hands tight against his sides, and she giggles once more. 

“It’s not your bar,” she says. But he’s right. No matter how cute the blushing might be, she’s definitely at the point where she should settle her tab and get back to the hostel she’d be staying for the night. 

It’s absolutely overstepping her bounds, and his eyes go wide for the third time when she slides her hand over his shoulder as she passes. If he was a meowth, he would’ve puffed up like a cotton ball. 

“My name is Lilac,” she says, “But you can call me Lee. Think you can remember that, Arlo?” 

He sputters, but if he actually answers with words, she doesn’t hear it. She’s already gone. 

\---

The next morning is definitely not as fun. 

The hangover is bad enough, and she spends more time than she really should groaning into her pillow while her always-frustrating, adorable, and incredibly independent Cubone goes marching around the room, drumming on furniture and periodically coming back over to pat its little hand on her head. She doesn’t really know how he gets out of his pokeball so consistently. He just  _ does _ . 

After the fifth time she growls “come  _ here _ ,” her Cubone comes over, and she lifts him onto the bed. He cuddles against her side with a sigh, and she flops back onto the bed and stares at the ceiling. 

That is, until the image of the way Arlo had blushed comes back into her mind, her memories clicking together like puzzle pieces, and she shoots up in bed. “Oh,  _ shit.”  _

_ “Cu?”  _ Cubone tilts his head, staring at her a little apprehensively. Lee doesn’t even respond, just slaps her hands over her face and moans. 

She’d  _ flirted _ with  _ Arlo. _ While  _ drunk. _ She can already imagine Candela laughing hysterically when the story comes out. 

The next time they battled was going to be hideously embarrassing. 


	2. The one where Lee sits in the dirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention I have 200 pages of this? I have 200 pages of this. Have a second chapter just because.

The second time, Arlo is more than a little frazzled. Lee and a few other Valor trainers had gotten wind of a Rocket plan to rob a truck full of supplies for a local Pokémon center. They’d caught them right after they’d smashed open the truck. 

He’s shouting orders left and right at rocket grunts and actively battling two people at a time. Lee would join in - she knows he doesn’t have enough pokemon to handle three trainers, she’s watched enough battles that she knows his pokemon and his strategies - but she’s busy fighting a grunt with a concerning obsession with pinecos. 

It’s only after her houndoom, Lucky, manages to KO the last pineco and the grunt falls to his knees with an over-dramatic  _ “No!”  _ that she turns to watch the last of the fight. Her stomach drops when she does. She may have won her battle, but her friends - the other team Valor trainers she’d joined up with - had lost the war. Her friend Roxy’s Scizor, the last team Valor pokemon standing, gets slammed hard by Arlo’s steelix. With a final cry, the scizor retreats into its pokeball, and Roxy nearly fumbles as she catches and cradles it in her arms. 

That’s when Arlo notices her. Only once the battle is decided does he spare a glance around the field, and his eyes go wide when he sees Lee, and… 

She has to blink, then squint, because she’s almost certain he’s going red. 

“ _ You,”  _ he says. 

“Me?” It escapes Lee before she can think better of it. 

It makes him color more, and he grits his teeth, glaring at her. “Just give in. Your little friends have already lost. You won’t be able to do any better.” 

Her hand drifts to her belt, touching the edge of her pokeball, and she glances sidelong at Lucky. Lucky growls, tail whipping. She’s been roughed up, and she really needs a few bandages and some rest, but she’s still got her fighting spirit. 

Before she can think too long about it, she nods, and Lucky goes for Arlo’s Steelix. 

“ _ Tch.  _ You’re stupider than I thought,” Arlo heckles. 

“Maybe,” Lee allows, and it’s a total gamble, but she forces a smile and a wink. “But what do I get from you if I win?” 

It makes Arlo stare, almost dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open in shock for just a moment. It’s long enough that he forgets to give his Steelix any commands, and it thrashes without any real direction. It gives Lucky a chance to get in and breathe out an inferno, the flames ripping across the field and enveloping Steelix in a whirlwind. 

She takes a deep breath. Her friends are gathering their pokemon, trying to retreat. On the other side, so are the rocket grunts - they’re taking what they can with them, armfuls of supplies that should have been on their way to the pokemon center. At least they’re not thinking about joining in. She fingers her pokeball again, and when Roxy yells out her name - “ _ Lee _ , come on, we’ve got to get out of here!” Lee just nods and watches the fight. 

Arlo manages to get it together, and he shouts a command. Steelix whips around and thrashes its tail, and Lucky only manages to hop out of the way at the last moment. 

“Go on, I’ll catch up!” She shouts back. Roxy hesitates, but after a moment one of the other Valor trainers grabs her and tugs her back. 

The fight rages on for a few moments more, until Arlo’s steelix wobbles, close to fainting. She can see rather than hear when he swears under his breath, and he calls it back, the pokemon bursting back into its pokeball. Almost lazily, he fetches another one off his belt and flings it. 

Lee loses all hope when she sees Arlo’s dragonite take the field. 

Poor Lucky. She growls and tries to fight, but she’s already beaten up from the last battle, and it’s not long before she’s shaking and trying to keep from fainting. Lee sucks in a breath, and her fingers linger over the last pokemon she has left. But no. She won’t make Cubone go onto the field alone. The poor thing had had enough long ago, and she doesn’t let it fight. Not if she can help it. 

“Enough!” She shouts. It’s a little too late. His dragonite sucks in a breath, and she knows what it’s going to be before she sees it - she runs forward, slips and falls to her knees in a slide. “Lucky, back,  _ now!”  _

It’s just close enough, and she recalls Lucky just as Arlo’s dragonite releases its hyperbeam. It’s so bright for a moment that it makes her vision sparkle, and it razes part of the field, grass and clumps of dirt flying in the air. Her hand is shaking a little as she cradles Lucky’s pokeball. That had been  _ close _ . “I give up! You win!” 

The smirk that crosses Arlo’s face is unreasonably punchable. He recalls his dragonite and steps forward, drawing closer. It’s only then that she realizes they’re the last ones left. Maybe there were more Rocket goons in the woods not so far away. Maybe a few of the valor trainers were watching on her side too, she wasn’t really sure. But it was just the two of them in the middle of the field, her on her knees with Lucky’s pokeball clutched in her hand, and Arlo walking with his haughty attitude drawn about him like a cloak. 

“Funny, that you think you could win against me,” he says. “What was it you said? What will you get if you win? Well, what do  _ I _ get, Lilac?” 

That is unexpected. She stares for a moment, mouth going dry when she realizes he’d actually remembered her name.  _ Fuck _ , that meant he remembered every stupid thing she’d said, probably with blinding clarity. For a moment the embarrassment wants to rise up and choke her. She’d been so  _ stupid.  _

But he’d hesitated when she’d teased him earlier. 

Well, fuck it. It was worth a shot. 

She tilts her head, and she drags her eyes from his shoes to the top of his head, letting her gaze linger in places it really shouldn’t. “I told you, if you want to spank me, I want dinner first.” 

The shade of red he turns nearly matches the streak in his hair, and he chokes. He shoves his glasses higher on his nose and turns the choking sound to a clearing of his throat, glowering down at her. “Disgusting. Is that all you can do? Make lurid remarks in the hopes it will throw me off?” 

“I don’t know,” she says, and she makes a choice, then; she stays on her knees, but she leans back, bracing her arms behind her and arching her back like it’s a leisurely stretch. It has the added bonus of accentuating her chest, and when she glances up at him from beneath her eyelashes, she catches it when he dares a glance, then quickly looks away. “Is it working?” 

“Somehow I find myself unsurprised that someone under Candela’s tutelage would be so  _ obscene _ ,” he says. The color is still high on his cheeks, and he refuses to look at her, now. It’s almost a win. “It’s pathetic you can’t do better than this.” 

And it’s pathetic that he can’t hide how flustered he’s getting. Pathetic, and sort of cute. She’d already thought he was attractive, but all this blushing and clutching of pearls was… _ adorable.  _ Hilarious, but adorable.

She shouldn’t indulge, she’s technically at his mercy, but she can’t resist either. She tilts her head again, staring up at him, unflinching. “Oh, baby,” Lee purrs, “if you think this is obscene, you’re in for a  _ surprise _ .” 

“ _ Don’t _ call me that,” he says. His voice squeaks a little on that first word. 

“Well?” She asks, pitching her voice low and smirking up at him. “What are you going to take from me, Arlo?” 

“ _ Nothing,”  _ he growls, glaring back at her. “You don’t have anything I want!” 

The ferocity of it makes her laugh, breaking through her pseudo-sultry attitude. “Then why did you even ask?” 

“Get out of my sight,” Arlo snaps. “Before I change my mind!” 

She should get up and run, at that. She really should. But she’s stubborn as well as stupid, and she twists, sliding out a leg so she’s practically reclining. He glares at her, but his gaze shifts, slipping over the curve of her hips before he jerks his eyes back to her face. “Out of your sight? Did you get a long enough look, then?” 

His hands clench, and he looks like he wants to murder her. In retrospect, maybe playing along isn’t the smartest move ever. 

“You’re insufferable.” 

She just grins up at him. “Takes one to know one.” 

She can see the muscles in his jaw flex as he grinds his teeth, and after a moment he growls under his breath, and he turns away. “Fine. Stay there in the dirt like the commoner you are. I hope this time you’ve learned your lesson.” 

That.. seems too easy. She stares after him as he walks away, and then with a little curse under her breath, she scrambles to her feet. Lucky’s pokeball goes back on her belt, and she wastes no time in running after her friends. 

The others must have left, but Roxy catches her as she dashes into the tree line, her hand tight around Lee’s arm. 

“Were you  _ flirting _ with him?” She asks, her voice a little breathless, her eyes wide. 

Lee just shrugs. “It threw him off, didn’t it? Look, with Arlo, I need all the help I can get. Let’s go.” 

The look Roxy gives her is uncertain, but after a moment, she nods. They start back. They have a long way to go before they’re on safe ground. 


	3. The one where a pastry is stolen

The third time she tries to avoid him. 

It’s really just bad luck, that’s all. After the last time, she’d taken a safer route: she tries to stay out of Sierra’s way, because with Sierra, there’s just cold, heartless calculation, and she’s trying to stay well and far away from Arlo because there’s no need to get more on his shit list than she already is. No, this time she’s following some friend’s leads on one of Cliff’s plots. So she’s off in some rural town up in the mountains whose only claim to fame is that there’s a factory for pokemon chow just outside the city limits. She’s hitched a ride up, and she’s already rented a room, and she’s trying to find a good cup of coffee somewhere in the scenic little downtown. 

She’s pondering a bakery, judging the baked goods in the windows, when she sees him. It’s in the glass, and she nearly has an out of body experience when she recognizes the hair with its streak of red. It’s in a messy bun this time, and he’s scowling, and he’s definitely pissed off, but he doesn’t look like he’s seen her yet. 

“ _ Shit _ ,” she hisses to no one in particular, and she blinks twice, staring at Arlo’s reflection. He is  _ not _ supposed to be here. He is really not supposed to be here. Swallowing hard, she tucks her hat lower on her head, and she ducks inside the bakery. 

She strolls in like she hadn’t just nearly had a panic attack, eyeing the menu with some consideration before she orders. Coffee and a pastry, one of the cheapest ones there, because working with team valor doesn’t exactly pay the bills. There’s nobody inside, the place is more or less deserted, but with the barista there it should be a semi-safe place to hide. Team Rocket was many things, but it was rare for a leader to get into a brawl in the middle of a business. 

She’s counting out her coins when the bell on the door jingles again, and she has enough time to slide the coins across the counter and smile at the barista before she turns to leave. Arlo is  _ right there _ when she turns, scowling at her with his brows drawn low over his eyes. For a moment that feels like forever, they stand, nearly nose to nose. She strongly considers climbing back over the counter and trying to hide behind the pastries. 

But then he narrows his eyes, and with a frustrated puff of breath, he blows a stray strand of hair out of his face. She squeaks when he reaches out, grabbing her arms, but all he does is spin her around and march her towards the back of the bakery. 

Lee almost yelps, almost yells something about assault or kidnapping or something equally ridiculous. But as he shoves her towards the back of the store, she realizes even if she does make a ruckus, there’s nobody here to react except for the barista. It would backfire, and she’d look like a crazy person, and she wouldn’t get her goddamn coffee. There’s no one else seated at any of the tables, so when Arlo lets go of her near the back corner, she whips back around to face him and nearly trips over the closest chair. 

“ _ Stop _ telling your insipid little teammates to flirt with me!” he demands, his glare laser-focused as he crosses his arms. 

Whatever she’d expected to hear, it wasn’t that. “ _ What?”  _ Lee squeaks. 

His teeth grind, a muscle jumping in his jaw, and his hands clench. “Don’t pretend to be ignorant of what your little stunt started! I can’t go more than two battles before some vapid Valor idiot tries to distract me by-- _ doing _ things!” A flush of pink crosses his cheeks, and he shudders. “The number of…  _ underthings _ i’ve been forced to see--” 

“Somebody’s throwing underwear at you?” Lee says, without thinking about it, and that makes Arlo turn colors again, reaching up to adjust his glasses on his nose as he glances away from her. Then it clicks, and even though she absolutely needs to learn to stop antagonizing Team Rocket at every turn, she can’t stop the giggle that escapes her. “Wait, did somebody flash you?” 

“ _ Multiple,” _ he growls out, glaring at her. “And it is  _ your fault.”  _

Lee’s giggle turns into a hysterical laugh, and then she slaps her hand over her mouth, staring at him as the flush on his cheeks grows darker and darker the more embarrassed he becomes. Her laughter absolutely isn’t helping with that fact. “I didn’t tell anyone! Maybe you just have a Valor fan club!” 

“I do  _ not _ ,” he growls, and he looks like he wants to shove her. He settles for recrossing his arms. 

“Well, I didn’t tell anyone to do anything,” Lee says, grinning at him. He narrows his eyes, and it looks like he wants to argue, but before he can get the words out she thinks back. The last time… the last time she’d seen Arlo had been in the field. 

The field where she absolutely had posed in the dirt for him, and Roxy had seen. 

She sucks in a quick, harsh breath, clapping her hand over her mouth again as she recalls it. “ _ Oh my god _ .” 

“This is your fault, you--you seductress--” Arlo cuts himself off, clenching his hands as he says the words and ducking his head. “If team valor is going to continue to hound my every step, the very  _ least _ Candela can do is keep her people from committing wanton sexual assault!” He hisses the last part, as though saying  _ sexual assault _ too loud is going to get him booted out of the bakery. Which, in fairness, it might. 

“Lee, your coffee,” the barista calls out, as cheery as could be, and it’s loud enough that Lee jumps a little. 

Before she thinks better of it, she raises a hand, motioning for Arlo to stay put. “I’ll be right back,” she says, and she darts away as Arlo chokes on a sputtered protest. 

It’s only once she gets her coffee and the pastry and returns that the words really click in her head. As she comes back with the mug in one hand and her warmed pastry in the other that she stops across from him, tilting her head. The smirk that curls her lips absolutely falls under the  _ should-not-antagonize-team-rocket _ category, but she can’t help it. 

“Did you call me  _ seductress, _ Arlo?” 

He flushes again. She’s starting to worry that he’s going to pop a blood vessel with this amount of blushing, it can’t be healthy for the skin. Still, he takes a step forward, jabbing an accusatory finger in her face. 

“Make them stop,” he demands. “I don’t have time for such trivial things.” 

“I don’t control my teammates,” she says, and she looks at his finger. She has the impulsive thought to bite him, but she ignores it for the moment. “Wait, is that why you’re up here?” 

“What?” His brows arch, surprised for the first time since he’d cornered her. 

“You’re not supposed to be up here,” Lee says, motioning awkwardly with her pastry plate. It doesn’t go flying off, but it’s a close thing, and Arlo eyes it with concern. “This isn’t supposed to be your operation, it’s just Cliff. That’s why I came up here.” 

He scowls at her, at that. “So you’ve abandoned your attempts to humiliate me and moved on to Cliff. I see. Your machinations won’t work on him, you know.” 

“Who’s humiliating you?” Lee demands, and if she didn’t have a mug of coffee in one hand and a plate of pastry in the other, she’d be pushing herself into his space. As it is she’s concerned she’s going to drop something. “Every time we battle you come out on top.  _ Every time _ . Maybe  _ I  _ need a break, Arlo! Maybe I want to be on top for once!” 

Okay, yes. The last bit is said with full knowledge of how it sounds, and she has no regrets. His eyes widen a little bit, and he looks like he’s going to choke on his own tongue, but then he clears his throat fiercely and resumes glaring. 

“ _ Please _ . If that’s what you’re looking for, crawl back home now. You will not be coming out  _ on top _ this time.” 

Lee bites her lip, and she stares at him, trying to figure out if he’s doing this on purpose or doesn’t realize he’s setting her up. He’s still impassive, frustrated, scowling at her, and a loose hair from his bun has fallen into his face again. It’s so difficult to tell. 

She can’t resist. “As long as I’m cumming at all,” she purrs. 

“ _ For the love of-- _ ” Arlo growls, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling. “Why are you so relentless?” 

“Do you want me to stop?” She asks. It’s a genuine question. 

What she doesn’t expect is for him to look at her. Just  _ look _ , for half a moment. He doesn’t answer, and he’s not glaring. It’s almost a searching look, like he’s trying to read her, trying to understand. It’s not something she’s ever gotten from him before, and it’s confusing. 

Then, with one dart of his eyes, he dares a glance at her pastry. She knows what he’s going to do a second before he does it, but her knowing doesn’t stop him from snatching it off her plate. 

“Hey!” she yelps, and she tries to go after him. It jostles her mug, and it spatters, nearly going down her front. She starts to swear, trying to keep herself from upending the precious coffee. By the time she sets her mug down and shakes the wet off her fingers, he’s already out the door and crossing the street, back to wherever he came from. She glares out the window as he takes a big bite out of the pastry, and when he glances back over his shoulder, it’s the smug look she knows from the times he’s trounced her in battles. 

She nearly runs out after him, but she sucks in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. It wasn’t worth it. Whatever this was, it wasn’t worth it. 

With a huff, she drags the chair away from the table she’d set her coffee on, and she drops into it. She crosses her arm, watching as Arlo crosses the street and disappears down some stupid alleyway. She glares after him, and she snakes her fingers around her drink. 

“I’ll get him next time,” she growls into her coffee mug. All of a sudden, she really,  _ really _ wants to hike back down the mountain.

\---

“Okay, okay,” she says, on the phone with Roxy as she waits for the next bus back into the city, Cubone at her side. “I just have one more question. Have you been flirting with Arlo?”

Roxy snorts on the other end of the line. “Oh, yeah. Big time. I don’t know, Lee, the first couple times it almost worked, but now he just gets super pissed every time he sees me. My poor pokemon are going to have dragonite PTSD.” 

Lee slams a hand over her face, and Cubone makes a startled noise and tugs on her pant leg. Sweet little Cubone. “Well, yeah, Rox, there’s only so many times you can flash a guy.” 

“You can say that again. Okay, call me when you get back to the city. We’ll get drinks.” 

“Will do,” Lee says, and she waits until Roxy hangs up before dropping her phone to her side and glancing down at Cubone. 

“See,  _ this _ is why he thinks I’m trying to humiliate him,” she says aloud. Cubone just blinks at her. 

It’s going to be a long ride back into town. 


End file.
